Alex Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 and All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta and Everth Cabrera were banned 50 games apiece Monday when Major League Baseball disciplined 13 players in a drug case — the most sweeping punishment since the Black Sox scandal nearly a century ago.

Rodriguez said he will appeal his suspension, and the Yankees say he is in the lineup for Monday night’s game at Chicago.

“I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process. I am eager to get back on the field and be with my teammates in Chicago tonight,” he said in a statement after the league announced its decision. “I want to thank my family, friends and fans who have stood by my side through all this.”

Later Monday, the embattled New York Yankees’ slugger did not deny using performance enhancing drugs at a news conference after Major League Baseball suspended him through the 2014 season. He said he will talk about whether he used PEDs at another time when he is more free to speak.

He did, however, dig in for a battle, saying no one else will defend him unless he stands up for himself.

In Rodriguez’s words: “I’m a human being. I’ve had two hip surgeries. I’ve had two knee surgeries. I’m fighting for my life.”

Ryan Braun’s 65-game suspension last month and previous punishments bring to 18 the total number of players disciplined for their relationship to Biogenesis of America, a closed anti-aging clinic in Florida accused of distributing banned performing-enhancing drugs.

The harshest penalty was reserved for Rodriguez, a three-time Most Valuable Player and baseball’s highest-paid star. His suspension covers 211 games. Rodriguez had until Thursday to appeal. Since he did, he will remain eligible to play until a decision by the arbitrator.

The New York Yankees slugger admitted four years ago that he used performance-enhancing drugs while with Texas from 2001-03 but has repeatedly denied using them since.

Rodriguez was suspended under both the drug agreement and labor contract.

MLB said the drug penalty was for “his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone over the course of multiple years.”

His penalty under the labor contract was “for attempting to cover up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the office of the commissioner’s investigation.”

The other 12 players have already agreed to their 50-game penalties.

The suspensions are thought to be the most at once for off-the-field conduct since 1921, when Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned eight Chicago White Sox players for life for throwing the 1919 World Series against Cincinnati: Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsh, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullen, Charles “Swede” Risberg, Buck Weaver and Claude “Lefty” Williams. They had been suspended by the team the previous year and were penalized by baseball even though they had been acquitted of criminal charges.

As for the modern-day All-Stars, Cruz, an outfielder, leads Texas in RBIs and Peralta has been a top hitter and slick-fielding shortstop for Detroit, a pair of teams in the midst of pennant races. They will be eligible to return for the postseason.

Rodriguez was the lone holdout. Baseball’s drug agreement says the appeal hearing shall start no later than 20 days after the filing of the grievance and the arbitrator is charged with making a decision 25 days after the hearing starts. However, the schedule can be altered by agreement of management and the union.

Players have often succeeded at persuading arbitrators to overturn or shorten drug suspensions. In the era before the drug agreement, Lamar Hoyt, Ferguson Jenkins, Pascual Perez and Willie Wilson were among those who had success in hearings, and Steve Howe’s lifetime ban for a seventh suspension related to drugs or alcohol was cut to 119 days.

Cruz, eligible to return to Texas for the postseason if the Rangers make the playoffs, attributed his action to a gastrointestinal infection, helicobacter pylori, and said he had lost 40 pounds following the 2011 season.

“I made an error in judgment that I deeply regret, and I accept full responsibility for that error,” he said in a statement. “I should have handled the situation differently, and my illness was no excuse.”

Peralta can rejoin Detroit for a season-ending three-game series at Miami — not far from the former office of Biogenesis.

In a statement released by the Tigers, Peralta said in “spring of 2012, I made a terrible mistake that I deeply regret.” Peralta apologized to his teammates and “the great fans in Detroit,” saying he knows he let “many good people down.”

MLB’s investigation began last year after San Francisco outfielder and All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera tested positive for elevated testosterone, as did Oakland pitcher Bartolo Colon and San Diego catcher Yasmani Grandal. The probe escalated in January when the Miami New Times published documents obtained from former Biogenesis associate Porter Fisher that linked several players to Biogenesis.

MLB said Melky Cabrera, Colon and Grandal will not receive additional discipline and it found no violations for Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez and Baltimore infielder Danny Valencia, both linked to Biogenesis in media reports.

In June, baseball struck a deal for Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch to cooperate. After holding investigatory interviews with the players, MLB presented evidence to the players’ union along with its intended penalties, starting the final round of negotiations.

“Those players who have violated the program have created scrutiny for the vast majority of our players, who play the game the right way,” baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said. “We continue to attack this issue on every front — from science and research, to education and awareness, to fact-finding and investigative skills.”

The first mass penalties for a baseball league occurred in 1877, the National League’s second season, when Louisville shortstop Bill Craver, pitcher Jim Devlin, left fielder George Hall and utilityman Al Nichols were banned for life following accusations they intentionally lost games for money.

In a 1946 dispute prompted by the Mexican League, Commissioner Happy Chandler handed down five-year suspensions to those who left their U.S. contracts to play abroad and didn’t return by opening day. No players were identified in his announcement, and ultimately about two dozen were penalized.

During an era when cocaine was a problem in baseball, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth conditionally suspended 11 players implicated in drug use in 1986, a group that included Dave Parker, Keith Hernandez and Joaquin Andujar. But Ueberroth said at the time he announced the penalties that the players wouldn’t have to serve the bans if they donated a percentage of their salaries to drug-prevention programs, submitted to random drug testing and contributed time to drug-related community service.

More to come on this story.

EARLIER:NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez will be suspended Monday, likely through the 2014 season, as part of Major League Baseball’s latest drug investigation but can play while he appeals, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

Major League Baseball informed the New York Yankees on Sunday that A-Rod will be suspended for his links to a clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no statement was authorized.

The Yankees weren’t told the exact length of the suspension, though they were under the impression it will be through the 2014 season, the person said. The Yankees star could get a shorter penalty if he agrees to give up the right to file a grievance and force the case before an arbitrator, the person added.

A suspension from Monday through 2014 would add to 214 games, and an unsuccessful appeal could stretch serving the penalty into 2015. In the era before players and owners agreed to a drug plan in late 2002, arbitrators often shortened drug suspensions — in the case of Yankees pitcher Steve Howe, his penalty was cut from a lifetime ban to 119 days.

MLB planned an announcement for 9 a.m. PDT Monday, a second person familiar with the deliberations said, also on condition of anonymity.

Rodriguez is the most famous player linked to the now-closed Biogenesis of America anti-aging clinic in Florida, and the Yankees expect him to be charged with interfering with MLB’s investigation, resulting in a harsher penalty than the other 13 players facing discipline.

Barring an agreement, Rodriguez’s appeal would be heard by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.

Adding to the drama: The 38-year-old Rodriguez, a three-time AL MVP, was due to return to the majors Monday night , when the Yankees play at Chicago White Sox, his first big league appearance since hip surgery in January.

“He’s in there, and I’m going to play him,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Sunday after New York’s 6-3 loss at San Diego.

Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson was excited A-Rod could play during an appeal.

“I want him back with us. This is arguably one of the best hitters of all-time,” he said. “Having him in the lineup is obviously going to be very positive for us.”

New York is a season-high 9 1/2 games out of first place in the AL East and 4 1/2 out in the race for the second wild-card spot.

“We’re going to be happy to see him back in the lineup, especially the way we’ve been playing,” second baseman Robinson Cano said. “He can come up and help us win some games.”

All-Stars Nelson Cruz of Texas, Jhonny Peralta of Detroit and Everth Cabrera of San Diego were among those who could get 50-game suspensions from the probe, sparked in January when Miami New Times published documents linking many players to the closed clinic in Coral Gables, Fla.

Many players were expected to agree to penalties and start serving them immediately, but an appeal by a first-offender under the drug agreement would postpone his suspension until after a decision by an arbitrator.

Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun, the 2011 NL MVP, agreed July 22 to a 65-game ban through the rest of the 2013 season for his role with Biogenesis. Braun was given a 50-game suspension for elevated testosterone that was overturned last year by arbitrator Shyam Das because of issues with the handing of the urine sample,

Since spring training, the union has said it will consider stiffer penalties starting in 2014.

“The home runs that are hit because a guy’s on performance-enhancing substances, those ruin somebody’s ERA, which ruins their arbitration case, which ruins their salary,” Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson said. “So it’s a whole domino effect.”

Rodriguez’s return from hip surgery was slowed by a quadriceps injury. He completed his second minor league injury rehabilitation assignment on Saturday night, a two-day stay at Double-A Trenton. Rodriguez walked in all four plate appearances, a day after hitting a two-run homer.

Following Friday night’s game, Rodriguez all but said he thought MLB and the Yankees were conspiring to keep him from getting back to the big leagues.

“There is more than one party that benefits from me not ever stepping back on the field. And that’s not my teammates and it’s not the Yankee fans,” he said, adding: “When all this stuff is going on in the background and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract and stuff like that, I think that’s concerning for me.”

He last played in October, going 3 for 25 (.120) with no RBIs in the playoffs. Rodriguez is owed $8,568,306 of his $28 million salary from Monday through the rest of the season and $86 million for the final four years of his contract with the Yankees. Girardi didn’t think A-Rod’s arrival would create more turmoil than the Yankees already are used to.

“I don’t suspect it’ll be awkward. Most of these guys know him as a teammate and have laughed a lot with Alex and been around Alex a lot,” he said. “I think it’ll be business as usual. I’m sure there will be more media there, obviously, tomorrow, but I think that’s probably more for Alex to deal with than the rest of the guys. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal.”

Lawyers involved in the drug cases have been trying to reach agreements that would avoid grievances. Deal or no deal, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was prepared to announce discipline.

Peralta didn’t think the possibility of a suspension made it harder to focus on the field.

“Nothing to worry about,” he said. “Play the game how I play every day, and try to enjoy every day.”

Asked what action he would take if penalized, Cruz said: “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do.”

There have been 43 suspensions under the major league drug agreement since testing with penalties for first offenses started in 2005. The longest penalty served has been a 100-game suspension by San Francisco pitcher Guillermo Mota for a positive test for Clenbuterol, his second drug offense.

In addition, Tampa Bay outfielder Manny Ramirez retired two years ago rather than face a 100-game suspension. When he decided to return for 2012 the penalty was cut to 50 games because he already had sat out almost an entire season.

Colorado catcher Eliezer Alfonzo was suspended for 100 games in September 2011, but the penalty was rescinded the following May because of handling issues similar to the ones involving Braun’s urine sample.

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